A story in yesterday's Wall Street Journal (via Bill Patry) illustrates how important it is for parties to a transaction to know what they're getting up-front. Starting way back in the 1970s, Wal-Mart hired an outside company, Flagler Productions, to document various aspects of Wal-Mart's operations. Flagler produced videos of Wal-Mart corporate officers and directors, […]
Continue Reading →In a decision last week, the Federal Circuit decided a case addressing the limitations of what constitutes "insolubly ambiguous" claim terms in order to amount to indefiniteness. The district court held the asserted claims invalid because they impermissibly mixed two statutory classes of subject matter, as well as because they required construing the same term […]
Continue Reading →In a decision last week, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's permanent injunction against a defendant to prevent infringement of a patent. The district court held the patent not invalid and infringed, based in part on a claim construction that construed the word "and" to mean "or." Specifically, based on the specification and other […]
Continue Reading →In a ruling today regarding the parties' motions for summary judgment in the consolidated cases challenging the USPTO's new claim and continutation rules, Judge Cacheris ruled the rules were invalid, and permanently enjoined their enforcement. We'll have more once we've had a chance to review the opinion. Click below for the relevant documents. Order granting […]
Continue Reading →In a decision last week, the Sixth Circuit affirmed an award of partial attorney fees to a defendant in a copyright case. The plaintiff sued multiple defendants, alleging copyright infringement under numerous theories. One such theory was that receipt of royalties from the sale of infringing music rendered a party liable for the underlying infringement. […]
Continue Reading →In a decision Friday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a final judgment of invalidity of all claims of a patent indefinite. The claims had several means-plus-function clauses that were computer-implemented, however no algorithms for implementing the claimed functions were disclosed in the specification. The district court held the claims invalid because there was no "structure" (i.e., […]
Continue Reading →In a decision Friday, the Federal Circuit addressed the issue of post-KSR obviousness and fraudulent misrepresentation. Regarding obviousness, the court held that the secondary indicia of nonobviousness simply could not overcome a "textbook case" of claims involving "a combination of familiar elements according to known methods that does no more than yield predictable results." Interpreting […]
Continue Reading →In a decision today, the Federal Circuit vacated a district court's dismissal of a case for lack of standing on the basis of insufficient evidence of patent ownership. The inventor of the patent died intestate as the only owner of the patent. While his two daughters executed transfers of ownership to the inventor's widow, the […]
Continue Reading →In a decision Friday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's claim construction and its concomitant grant of summary judgment of noninfringement, as well as its denial of attorney fees under § 285. The district court held the patentee had, during prosecution of the patent at issue, made a clear and unmistakable disavowal of claim […]
Continue Reading →In a ruling today, the Federal Circuit affirmed in part a decision by the International Trade Commission (ITC) concerning the application of 19 U.S.C. § 1337 and 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(1) to imported products and products imported produced via a patented process. The main issue before the court was whether the safe harbor against infringement […]
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